Reviews by silenius:

I like that these beers are wrapped in tissue paper. Not only does it keep the beer from becoming lightstruck, its like opening a present!

The beer pours with a massive creamy head that lasts a long time and laces the glass nicely. The beer is a warm yellow orange color with bountiful pinpoint carbonation.

Smell is lemongrass, ginger and hops. Not terribly complex, but nice, fresh and appealling

Taste is on the thin side and doesn't live up the look or smell. It hits with a slightly acidic citrus rind flavor that briefly teases me with some sweetness and leaves with bittering hops. It is nice and might be better with some food but doesn't wow me.

Mouthfeel is frothy and light with considerable carbonation. It ends with a mineraly bite.

Nicely drinkable, but I can imagine this being much better with some sweetness added. (847 characters)

More User Reviews:

Built for spring religious observances, the original summertime Saison jumps ahead of schedule and introduce itself early with the Lenten namesake.

The Lentenbier pours with a mild hazy hue where strong straw meets light honey-amber. Its almost a dirty ale with a soft bronze hue. A controlled billowing head rises to nearly topple the glass before its cotton-white froth begins to recede. Random lacing pockets adorn the glass in the beer's wake- further affirming the quality of this honored Belgian ale.

The theme of honey continues in the beer's aroma. Floral and fauna notes of rose pedals, wildflowers, and soft coriander, dried oranges, and honey suckle precede the strong sweetness of honeyed malt. Light herbal and more earthen tones follow with the spicy and grassy hops to complement the sweet scent. Fruit notes of apples, lemons, and white grapes peak through the sweetness and offer more supportive balance to the grassy spice.

Flavors fare similarly, as the sweet honey taste starts the show. Floral sweetness and marmalade-type fruitiness provide a strong malt presence that extends deep into finish. But along the way, the richness slowly fades and allows spicy notes of white pepper, wine acidity, and fennel to balance the orchard fruit impressions that arise in the middle palate.

Finishing malty-dry, the ale closes with stubborn sweetness and timid spice and dryness. Elevated fruit character sides it with stronger Belgian golden ales more so than the typical Saison. Late warming is hidden behind the lingering sweetness for an ale that's ideally suited for richer Easter feasts that circulate around lamb and rosemary. (1,648 characters)

Appearance- Pours up a healthy amount of head that appears to have a little bit of retention. The head is a pure cotton white while the body is a hazy and pale golden straw which shows hints of lemon when held up to the light. Some lacing is left behind.

Nose- Very subdued but most of the usual suspects are there. Spicy Belgian yeast is the most dominant aspect followed by apple, banana, and cloves. Swirling shows off the spice and banana a little bit more but the aroma is still quite understated. Some orange and lemon as well.

Taste- This is loaded with Belgian spice and yeast. At the moment, it's a little too much. Bold notes of clove and black pepper with some astringency and a woody finish. Fruit esters (apple, orange, banana, and lemon) hang around the edges as they tend to get pushed out of the bulk of the flavor profile as the yeast dominates. Peel of both orange and lemon, some coriander. Almost an earwax bitterness that starts off in the middle and lingers into the finish. Some pine and resin on the finish as well. Would be a good beer for those who like hoppy and yeasty saisons. I prefer saisons that show more fruit esters and Brett but this is good for what it is. It has become more enjoyable for me as the yeast has started to mellow and the more delicate flavors are beginning to appear.

Mouthfeel- Light bodied with a good amount of carbonation. Somewhat dry finish helps cleanse the mouth.

Drinkability- The yeast is a bit of an obstacle but not much of one. The price is a considerable one, however. Thirteen bucks for a 750 mL bottle of Belgian beer is a pretty good price except this beer isn't good enough for me to justify it.

Overall- Solid beer that represents one part of the saison spectrum. Definitely worth a try if you like dry hopped sasions and Belgian IPAs. If you're more of a Dupont or Fantome drinker, you might want to pass. (1,887 characters)

750ml ive been holding on to for a couple years. Finally popped open and poured into a snifter. The brew appears a hazed golden yellow color with 3 fingers of white head that fades down to a finger. Some patchy lace sticks to the glass and a swirl revives a finger of yellow cream back to the surface.

The aroma opens up like lime zest. Very bright, fruity and juicy in an unexpected way. It has some accenting fruity malt blending to more caramel or toffee sweetness somewhat like candy. Some slight hints of yeasty sulfur emerge as it warms up and is swirled.

The taste is sweet almost like blegian candy more than malt that blends into a bit of footy straw grain. It is a little earthen and yeasty with light fruity zest towards the finish. More sips reveal a bunch of herbal quality that is fresh and almost minty.

This is a medium bodied brew with a modest amount of carbonation. A little too sweet sweet with a candy sort of appeal but lots of depth and it is enjoyable. If this was a little more dried out, I would bump up the score but as-is it is still very good. (1,075 characters)

Poured into a tulip glass a slightly hazy golden with a oarangy hue with a huge blossoming head that stuck like glue to the glass leaving globs of lace behind.Whoo very effervescent citrusy and yeasty with mineral undertones as well.Very refreshing with the alc % hidden very well,orange and pear flavors are very prevelant subtle spice like black pepper and clove are noticable underneath the fruit with a nice geranium "green" finish.A nice saison to be had here subtly complex and quite refreshing. (501 characters)

Appearance: Pours a rather hazy yellow-orange color, with a large airy white head. Good head retention and nice lacings. With the plentiful bubbles, this adds up to a very nice looking brew.

Smell: Lots of citrus all the way, coupled with floral aromas. Earthiness is also present, as is of course yeast. There is also a hint of tart.

Taste and mouthfeel: The taste pretty much duplicates the smell with plenty of citrus (but now clearly in the form of lemon) coupled with floral and earthy notes. However, the yeast is more noticeable in the taste. Tart appears in the finish, which is also a little bit dry. The beer actually tastes quite good. However, towards the end, when it warms up a bit and actually looses quite much carbonation (which is not that common with Belgian beers), the beer changes in a negative direction and looses much of its character. (Perhaps, it should also be noted that I finished the bottle in under an hour, so the loss of carbonation shouldn't be attributed to slow drinking). It is a medium-bodied beer, and the bubbles and foam creates a nice mouthfeel.

Drinkability: High. I liked this beer. Although it is perhaps rather average and it didn't hold up all the way, I could really see myself having a few more of it.

APP- some gushing out of the lightly chilled bottle. Glowing turbid gold color with big pillows of fluffy white head, other than a slightly ropey sediment at the bottom this is just what my saison dreams look like

aroma- understated and simple, pick up mostly pepper and grass with light citrus and yeast

MF- light bodied, dry, effervescent, not very astringent really, has more of a creaminess to it. awesome

Overall- Saison is a really etherial style, hard to pin down, but when I think of saison, I think of this. So glad I found this beer. Really excellent. May have dethroned Foret in my book. (1,010 characters)

Paper wrapped bottle as pictured. "best before two years after bottling date. 23 maart 2006" Gently decanted into a Duvel chalice, is a cloudy light blonde body with a titanic snowwhite head that appears to be very creamy. Head is long lasting and deposits silky sheets of lace on the glass.

Aroma is complex. Lemony citrus and kiwi, hints of orange and banana, spicy notes of pepper and coriander, floral and herbal hops.

Bottle from O'Brien's. Big gusher upon opening. Poured a bright yellow-orange with a huge, rocky white head that stuck around a long time. Thick, sticky lacing. Fresh apples, lemons, and citrus in the nose with a earthy straw and floral background. Solid yeastiness. Strong carbonation gives this an enjoyably light mouthfeel. Tart apples up front, along with biting lemon zest and white pepper. Sweeter, slightly funky yeast joins with a melon flavor. A somewhat mineral and straw taste comes in and out with a saaz/hop flavor towards the finish. Sometimes it is sharp and mildly unpleasant, but not enough to ruin the beer. A long, sweet honey finish. I thought this was a more complex saison with all the flavors that kept popping up, but still maintained its light, refreshing quality. (789 characters)

L: Pours hazy straw under a 2” dense, rocky white foam collar that grips the side of the glass. S: Lemon and fruit aromas with a slight floral note. T: Starts lightly sweet and dries out by the finish. Peach, lemon and orange on the palate with light wheat and a finishing bitter hop accent. F: A very rich texture compost of fine, soft carbonation fills the mouth with soft foam. Medium to medium light body and above average carbonation. O: Very refreshing, easy to drink and worth seeking out. (502 characters)

Hazy deeper yellow appearance with a huge mousse-like head. Very attractive and dense delicate laces. Aroma of yeast, golden raisins, and wet chalkboard slate. Light mouthfeel and spritzy and lively carbonation. Quite dry, without the honeyish malty start of some Saisons ( a bit of white rum tone), and it goes on from there -- a definite flinty and metallic taste that's interesting and a little different. Fairly simple and straightforward in its profile and presentation, normally I like a little more entertainement value going on, but its pretty refreshing and drinkable. Very abrupt and pointed finish on this one. (686 characters)

I picked up a bottle of this at the Stuffed Sandwich. I had never heard of it befre I saw it there. I am glad that I went there and discovered it.

This beer pours a golden yellow, slightly cloudy. The head is very thick and fluffy. It fades very slowly, leaving a massive layer of laces. The appearance was quite impressive.

This beer smells strongly of citrus. I can detect lemon, and orange. Also, I can detect some spicy, peppery aromas. A slight grainy aroma is also noticable. Floral hops give this beer a great touch also.

This beer has a citrus like flavor. Orange peel, and a lemon zest. It tastes slightly spicy. It has the grainy farmhouse flavor that I enjoy so much. I can taste a yeasty flavor also. The hops that were present in the aroma are not so noticable in the flavor.

This beer is crisp and refreshing. It is highly carbonated. It goes down smooth leaving a spicy lemony aftertaste.

This beer would make a good session beer. It is just a little high in alcohol, but the smooth refreshing flavor more than makes up for that. I highly recomend this beer. (1,088 characters)

Pours a hazy golden-orange color with a one-finger white head. The head recedes into a wispy layer on top leaving light lacing.

Smells of light fruits - pears, oranges, and bananas, in that order - with hints of spices and Belgian candi sugar.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Lots of light fruit flavors up front, backed by Belgian candi sugar. The spices come out at the end, but without much force. There are also hints of green apples that poke out every now and then.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with soft carbonation that makes this go down smoothly.

Drinkability is good. I could definitely have a few of these on a warm day (as today was).

Overall this is a good beer, though not a quintessential saison. It's more of a Tripel/saison hybrid in my opinion, but still well worth checking out. (857 characters)

A- This beer pas a pale yellow hazy body with a sea of micro bubbles in a torrent that fill 3/4 of the glass with a head of foam.

S- The yeasty esters have some apricot qualities with a flint note that has a fresh rain quality to it. The finish has a soft lemon and black pepper note to it.

T- The soft pale wheat flavor has a green peppercorn note and a light fruity ester flavor. The finish is a dry clean finish with a nice soft green hop snap that grows as the beer warms.

M- This beer has a medium-light crisp mouthfeel with a creamy finish and no alcohol heat noticed.

O- This beer is dry by not overly dry and some great fruity ester character that has some nice stone fruit qualities. This beer has great depth but it is lots of very subtle layers that I can't describe and it is crisp making it very drinkable. (848 characters)

750ml, star-strewn twisted paper packaging, as opposed to the standard label. Apparently you're not to remove the wrap when serving, but when it's just me, who the hell cares?

This beer pours a quite cloudy pale tarnished golden straw hue, with a whole fistful of puffy, thinly foamy, and duly frothy eggshell white head, which leaves some chunky cobwebbed lace around the glass as it slowly ebbs away.

It smells of biscuity, crackery pale malt, edgy dry yeast, pine needles, pleasantly generic citrus rind, some lemon/lime zest, and further grassy, hay-like hops - sort of a Czech-inspired saison, as it were. The taste is generally more of the same - prominently biscuity pale malt, a touch of wheaty astringency, subdued Belgian yeast, more than a bit of fleshy apple and pear fruitiness, subtle clove and white pepper spice, hints of dried floral honey, and grassy, earthy, and weedy noble hops.

The carbonation is laid back, and mostly just playfully frothy, the body medium-light in weight, and whose smoothness is not beholden to any sort of booze or hop chicanery. It finishes on the sweet side, the pome fruitiness, mixed barley and wheat maltiness, and lingering peppy yeast providing the given canvas.

As I'm not exactly a fan of yer typical saison, this Continentally hopped up version really hits all the right buttons with me. Almost dry, yet still agreeably fruity, and just barely yeasty (thanks mostly to that steady hoppiness, perhaps?), Glazen Toren's version just seems to do the trick here. (1,515 characters)